Submission of FFDLR to the inquiry on Cannabis Use for Medical Purposes

Submission of FFDLR to the inquiry of the ACT Standing Committee on Health, Ageing, Community and Social Services into the exposure draft of the Drugs of Dependence (Cannabis Use for Medical Purposes) Amendment Bill 2014 and related discussion paper

There is no doubt that further research will be needed in the development of cannabis or its derivatives as a medicine. FFDLR believes that the medical use of cannabis should be carefully monitored not just from the point of view of the patient but to contribute to research and development. It is vital though that the quest for evidential certainty should not be used as a pretence for further delaying access to relief that is already well attested. In other words, research and development should not be an excuse for delaying cannabis use medicinally in its present form and the outcome of that research and development should not result in prohibitive costs for the patient.